''Restaurant Makeover'' is a television series on

HGTV Canada Home Network is a Canadian English-language discretionary cable and satellite specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. Home Network broadcasts programs relating to real estate, home and garden design, and renovations. This channel was ...

that currently airs as reruns on the

Food Network Canada Food Network is a Canadian exempt discretionary specialty channel owned by Rogers Sports & Media. Based on the U.S. cable network of the same name, It broadcasts programming related to food, cooking, cuisine, and the food industry. History ...

and ''HGTV Canada'', as well as the Fine Living channel and

Food Network Food Network is an American basic cable channel owned by Television Food Network, G.P., a unit of Warner Bros. Discovery, who manages and operates it as a division of the Warner Bros. Discovery U.S. Networks Group. The channel airs both televi ...

in the United States,

DTour DTour (styled as DTOUR) is a Canadian English language discretionary specialty channel owned by Corus Entertainment. The channel was originally established by Canwest in 1997 as Prime, a cable companion to Global with a general entertainment f ...

and in over 16 other countries worldwide. The

pilot episode A television pilot (also known as a pilot or a pilot episode and sometimes marketed as a tele-movie) in United Kingdom and United States television, is a standalone episode of a television series that is used to sell a show to a television netwo ...

starred designer

Robin De Groot Robin most commonly refers to several species of passerine birds. Robin may also refer to: Animals * Australasian robins, red-breasted songbirds of the family Petroicidae * Many members of the subfamily Saxicolinae (Old World chats), includ ...

and chef Brad Long in the Coco's Cafe. Most of the restaurants involved in the series were located in the

Greater Toronto Area The Greater Toronto Area, commonly referred to as the GTA, includes the Toronto, City of Toronto and the regional municipality, regional municipalities of Regional Municipality of Durham, Durham, Regional Municipality of Halton, Halton, Regional ...

. The series was rebooted as ''

Restaurant Takeover ''Restaurant Makeover'' is a television series on HGTV (Canadian TV channel), HGTV Canada that currently airs as reruns on the Flavour Network, Food Network Canada and ''HGTV Canada'', as well as the Fine Living Network, Fine Living channel and ...

'' on Food Network Canada, and aired for 2 seasons in 2012 and 2013.

Synopsis

It is hosted by chefs Brad Long, Rene Chauvin,

Lynn Crawford Lynn Crawford (born July 18, 1964) is a Canadian chef and television personality. She is known for her appearances on the Food Network show '' Restaurant Makeover'', which is seen in over 16 countries worldwide. Biography Lynn Crawford was bor ...

Massimo Capra Massimo Capra (born 1960) is an Italian restaurateur, restaurant consultant, cookbook author, and celebrity chef. He is known for his appearances on the television shows CityTV's '' Cityline'', Global's '' The Morning Show'', and Food Network show ...

, Corbin Tomaszeski,

David Adjey David Adjey is a Canadian chef known for his appearances on the Food Network Canada shows '' Restaurant Makeover'' and The Opener. Adjey appeared on the season 7 premiere episode of ''Iron Chef America'' which originally aired on October 5, 200 ...

, and Susur Lee along with designers

, Meredith Heron, Cherie Nicole Stinson, Jessica Cotton, Glen Peloso, Brenda Bent,

Cheryl Torrenueva Cheryl Torrenueva is a Canadian designer, best known as a personality on television shows produced by HGTV Canada. A graduate of Ryerson University, Torrenueva started in television as a contestant on ''Designer Superstar Challenge''.

Lisa North Lisa or LISA may refer to: People People with the mononym * Lisa (Japanese musician, born 1974), stylized "LISA" * Lisa, stagename of Japanese singer Lisa Komine (born 1978) * Lisa (South Korean singer) (born 1980) * Lisa (Japanese musician, ...

, and

Jonathan Furlong Jonathan may refer to: *Jonathan (name), a masculine given name Media * ''Jonathan'' (1970 film), a German film directed by Hans W. Geißendörfer * ''Jonathan'' (2016 film), a German film directed by Piotr J. Lewandowski * ''Jonathan'' (2018 ...

, who perform renovation makeovers on restaurants desiring transformation. The premise of the show is to challenge two restaurant professionals, one designer and one chef, to overhaul a struggling restaurant with a very limited budget and time. Originally the show would match funds provided by the restaurant owners up to $20,000; however, that decreased to just $15,000 as the show moved into its later seasons.

Criticism

Although the show's premise is to help struggling restaurants, a number of establishments have failed shortly after their makeover — sometimes before the episode of the show featuring the restaurant had aired, thus not allowing them to reap the benefits of added exposure. Some critics held the opinion that participating in ''Restaurant Makeover'' was a "kiss of death" for failing restaurants. However, it was noted that given the dire condition of some participants' establishments, even a significant change could not salvage the business.Restaurant Makeover
Taste TO

List of renovated restaurants

Season 1

Season 2

Season 3

Season 4

Season 5

References

External links

* ttp://www.hgtv.ca/ontv/episodearchive.aspx?titleid=86270 Episode list from HGTV* {{Food Network (Canada) series Food reality television series Food Network (Canadian TV channel) original programming HGTV (Canada) original programming 2005 Canadian television series debuts 2008 Canadian television series endings 2000s Canadian reality television series Television series by Alliance Atlantis